Fighting fiction with facts, Kogi is in safe hands »

God give us men! A time like this demands Strong minds, great hearts, true faith, and ready hands; Men whom the lust of office does not kill; Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy; Men who possess opinions and a will; Men who have honour, men who will not lie; Men who can stand before a demagogue, And damn his treacherous flatteries without winking! Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog
In public duty, and in private thinking; For while the rabble, with their thumb worn creeds, Their large professions and their little deeds, Mingle in selfish strife, Lo! Freedom weeps, Wrong rules the land and waiting justice sleeps. Josiah Gilbert Holland (1819-1891)

In this season of anomie (apologies to Laureate Wole Soyinka) when emotions run high and the land is made desolate, we are reminded of the above words of Josiah Gilbert Holland penned over 100 years ago.

Embroiled in a needless war of attrition, now more than ever Nigeria needs leaders with “strong minds, great hearts, true faith, and ready hands,” who are not only bold enough to speak truth to higher powers but also comfortable enough to reach down to the level of the hoi polloi at ground zero.

Fortunately, the duo of Kogi State governor Alhaji Yaya Adoza Bello and his deputy Chief Edward Onoja have shown, times without number that they were made and voted into public office for such a time as this.

Men whom the lust of office does not kill, they have both demonstrated that they cannot be bought by the spoils of office because they possess opinions and a will to see that the right things are done, regardless of who the truth hurts.

Yahaya Bello first went against the grain of wisdom and popular opinion on the mode of combating the Coronavirus pandemic even when this was in direct opposition to the federal government in which he was directly invested.

How he managed to curb the pandemic without lockdown of the state and ensured Kogi did not become a mass burial ground as projected by those who thought they loved the state more than its chief executive officer is worthy of an academic thesis.

As we speak, the state has not recorded any death directly attributed to the virus. Like the Agama lizard which climbed the proverbial iroko tree, Bello deserves praises for this, not derision.

When the #EndSARS protesters brought their grievances to Government House, Yahaya Bello (GYB) and Edward Onoja and principal officers of the State cabinet walked into their midst and calmed frayed nerves. They spoke the language of youth, being young persons themselves, so it was easy for the protesters to connect with and reason with the state government.

Then, in what is perhaps the duo’s biggest coup, the deputy governor did what was probably thought impossible when he walked into the midst of a band of hoodlums and angry scavengers searching for Covid-19 palliatives at a government storage facility where relief materials for flood victims were kept.

Ordinarily, as we have seen across the country, these are bands of unruly, often violent, mobs ready and willing to strike anything or anybody who stands in their destructive paths. The pictures are the same, from Lagos through Osun to Kwara and Calabar.

However, if you’ve seen the viral video, Onoja walked into their midst and, at the end of the day, had them chanting ‘GYB! GYB! GYB!’ in praise of the governor. Don’t take my word for it, watch the video.

How did he do it? The Deputy took the message of peace and constructive engagement from his principal to the crowd who where hellbent on cleaning out the place and to the security agents determined to stop them. The possibility of a bloody confrontation was high but Onoja stepped in, connected with the crowd and got the security agents to back down after reaching a compromise with the people.

The deal Onoja brokered was for the crowd to take what they will from the storage while maintaining peace and orderliness in the state capital. It was better than what the inflamed mob expected so they happily agreed. They got what they wanted and the state government is spared violent destruction and certain loss of lives. It is a win-win situation for all concerned.

Time and again, Kogi’s young governor and his deputy have shown that there’s a different governance template better than the old order which today’s youths will readily embrace.

It is instructive to note that seeing how well this template works in Kogi, with all of its faultlines, then Bello and Onoja deserve more honour than they currently get.

But because of the evil and tendentious nature of outright falsehood, ingenious half-truths and devious fake news, facts and rational thinking are usually interred under the mud of mischief.

So we should always insist on interrogating facts, apply logic to (fake) news and fight falsehood with the truth always to make Kogi state even greater. There is certainly hope for the future in the horizon for our beloved country. It’s up to all of us to make that happen.

Omale Jasper writes from Omala, Kogi State